Sports

Mount Pleasant High School Says Football Player Was 21

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MOUNT PLEASANT (WWJ/AP) - A central Michigan high school football team may have to forfeit some victories after officials learned that one of the team’s player was 21-year-old.

The young man enrolled at Mount Pleasant High School this fall under an alias, Javier Jones.

Athletic Director Jim Conway said an investigation into the student began with a tip from a concerned parent.

“Earlier this week we dug up his file, the police became involved (and) all the school officials, and found documents had been altered and forged. There was a couple days of investigation, looking into that and what we have found is this individual is not the individual that was on the transcript,” Conway told The Morning Sun.

The student, whose real name is James Nash, was expelled Thursday. Nash previously lived in Lansing.

“After the fact, we look at the fine print of things, and we’re able to prove to the information was doctored. There are some official documents that have been altered so now it’s a police matter. He went under an alias, his age was doctored and we weren’t aware of altered documents,” Conway told The Morning Sun.

Those altered documents allegedly include a forged birth certificate, which the Mount Pleasant Police Department is currently investigating.

Under state rules, a student isn’t eligible to play if he or she is 19 before Sept. 1.

Officials are waiting to hear back from the Michigan High School Athletic Association, which has been notified of the incident.

The Oilers had a 4-5 football record and didn’t make the playoffs. Coach Jason McIntyre said Nash was a defensive back who started some games near the end of the season but wasn’t a star.